Judicial harassment
Singapore
December
8, 2017
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Singapore.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about
the judicial harassment against Mr. Jolovan
Wham, social worker, human rights advocate, and former Executive Director
of the NGO Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME)[1],
and eight other activists[2]
for the exercise of their right to peaceful assembly.
According to the information received, on November 28, 2017,
Mr. Jolovan Whan was detained at the Central Police Station in Singapore, and
released on bail later that day.
On November 29, 2017, the State Court charged Mr. Jolovan
Wham with: 1) “organising public assemblies without a permit”, under the Public
Order Act (three charges); 2) “vandalism”, under the Vandalism Act (one
charge); and 3) “refusing to sign statements”, under Article 180 of the
Criminal Code (three charges). The seven charges are related to three peaceful
gatherings held by various activists, including Mr. Jolovan Wham, in Singapore
between November 2016 and July 2017 without obtaining prior permission from the
police.
Under Article 16(1)(a) of the Public Order Act, organising a
public assembly without obtaining police permit is an offense that is
punishable with fines of up to SGD 5,000 (approx. 3,140 Euros). Repeat
offenders can be fined up to SGD 10,000 (approx. 6,280 Euros) or imprisoned for
up to six months, or both. Under Article 3 of the Vandalism Act, the offence of
vandalism is punishable with a fine not exceeding SGD 2,000 (approx. 1256
Euros) or imprisonment not exceeding three years.
The three peaceful gatherings from which the charges under
the Public Order Act stem were: 1) a forum to discuss civil disobedience and
social movement (held on November 26, 2016); 2) a silent protest on a Mass
Rapid Transport (MRT) train to mark the 30th anniversary of the detention
without trial of 22 people under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) as
part of Operation Spectrum in
May-June 1987 (held on June 3, 2017); and (3) a candlelight vigil outside
Changi Prison to support the family of Prabagaran Srivijayan, a Malaysian
national, awaiting execution for drug trafficking (held on July 13, 2017)[3].
Moreover, on December 5, 2017, eight other activists who
took part in the three above-referenced peaceful assemblies reported themselves
voluntarily to the police and were given warnings that may be facing charges
should they participate in other gatherings.
The Observatory denounces the judicial harassment of Mr.
Jolovan Wham and the other above-mentioned activists, which only aims at
punishing them for their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities and
the exercise of their right to peaceful assembly.
Actions requested:
Please write to the
Singaporean authorities to urge them to:
i.
Drop all charges
against Mr. Jolovan Wham;
ii.
Put an end to all forms of
harassment, including
at the judicial level, against Mr. Jolovan Wham, the above-mentioned
demonstrators and all human rights defenders in the country so that they
are able to carry out their work without hindrance;
iii. Ensure full respect for the right to
peaceful assembly in accordance with relevant international human rights
standards;
iv.
Comply with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders, in particular with its Articles 1, 6(c) and 12.2;
v.
Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Addresses:
·
Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of
Singapore, Fax: +65 63328983/68356621, Email: pmo_hq@pmo.gov.sg; Twitter:
@leehsienloong
·
Mr. Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam, Minister for
Home Affairs, Minister of Law, Fax: +65 62546250/ 633 28842, Email: mha_feedback@mha.gov.sg;
·
Mr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Fax: +65 64747885, Email: mfa@mfa.sg;
·
Mr. Lucien Wong, Attorney General, Fax: +65
6538 9000
·
H.E. Mr Foo Kok Jwee, Ambassador, Permanent
Mission of Singapore in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41-22-796 8078, E-mail: mfa_geneva@mfa.gov.sg;
·
H.E. Mr. Jaya Ratnam, Ambassador, Embassy of
Singapore in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 660 8685; Email: singemb_bru@mfa.sg
Please
also write to the diplomatic representations of Singapore in your respective
countries.
***
Paris-Geneva,
December 8, 2017
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply.
The
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was
created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The
objective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression
against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the
European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international
civil society.
To contact
the Observatory, call the emergency line:
· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
· Tel and fax
OMCT +41 22 809 49 39 / +41 22 809 49 29
·
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1
43 55 18 80
[1] Founded in 2004, the
Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics is a charity dedicated to
assisting foreign workers in Singapore through welfare, empowerment and
advocacy.
[2] As of publishing this
Urgent Appeal no information was available regarding the names of these eight
activists.
[3] FIDH Press Release, Halt
the execution of Prabagaran Srivijayan, published on July 12, 2017.
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